10/6/2013 - Living is easy in the Maldives

We have been lucky enough to see some amazing places in the past year.  Southeast Asia truly has a lot to offer and we still have a lot of locales to visit.  The Maldives, however, had been on our list from the moment we knew we were moving to Singapore.  So from the time we had booked our flight last April until last week it was always in the back of our mind.  The multiple flights to and from Penang as well as some trans-Pacific flights paid off and we cashed in miles for a free flight.  Much like the rest of the trip, the landing into the Maldives was its own experience.  None of the islands are very large so the airport is actually its own island.  When you start to descend its just, blue water, blue water, lighter blue water, sand, boom, you're suddenly on the ground.  You get to the end of the runway.....and the plane just does a U-Turn and goes back to the "gate" and you exit on the tarmac.  Loved it.

After grabbing our luggage we walked to the other side of the airport and got in line for the next leg of our journey - 35 minute speed boat ride to our hotel.  Some hotels are far enough away you actually need to take a float plane to them, but one of the reasons we had picked the Anantara was to avoid that extra hurdle.  If the water was going to look this incredible at the airport, we couldn't wait to get out to the island.  The ride was a little bumpy, but not too bad and before you knew it the boat was turning into the channel in our own private lagoon and reef to drop us off.  A welcoming committee playing on some bongo drums was waiting on the dock and another lemon grass scented cold towel was provided to cool down with.  Cold towels might be a tradition we import back to the States, nothing better than one on a hot day and after this trip, bongo drums may prompt a Pavlovian response in me signalling its time to relax.  It helped we heard them each day when new arrival showed up.

Check in was a breeze - it was helpful that were coming in the low season and throughout our stay we often felt like we had our own deserted island.  Next stop, our over the water bungalow that would be home for the next 4 nights.  Surprise surprise, waiting for us was a bottle of champagne and some chocolate covered strawberries as an anniversary present.  We didn't remember even telling them that, but we certainly weren't going to turn them down.  Not that we had had any doubts, but sitting there on our deck, enjoying our champagne, watching the fish swimming by (whoa was that a shark?) yes, the trip was going to be awesome!

We were on a mission to relax so the rest of the week slipped by pretty quickly, so just a few high points.

1) The sunrises and sunsets were incredible, to the point that they almost look fake.  We might need to go into the postcard business after this trip.  The 3 hour time difference worked in our favor so even the late risers that we are got to see a few sunrises and we of course took advantage of sunset happy hour before dinner each night.

2) We had been a little concerned that for all our meals we were effectively stuck at the hotel.  No walking down the street or taking a tuk-tuk to a cheap $4 dinner anywhere.  Of course that had been a needless worry as well.  Breakfast by the water every morning was a pretty easy way to start each day.  I alternated between eggs one day and crepes the next and finished off with a fruit and cheese plate each day - the combo of the food I love most about Singapore (fresh tropical fruit) and an item a Wisconsin guy misses the most (access to good, reasonably priced cheese).  I'm treating this 2 year stint as if its graduate level training in breakfast buffets so that I can be prepared to teach a course when we return.  Think about it, it really is valuable information everyone should have.

Dinner was then similar to breakfast - out by the water either at our hotel or a 2 minute pontoon boat ride to the other side of the lagoon and the sister resort.  Floodlights lit up the water for about 20 meters so you could see everything swimming by at night as well.  We took a tip and on the last night ate later as apparently the sharks show up around 9 PM.  Sure enough, starting around 9 until the time our wine ran out one baby black tipped shark after another cruised by our table.  Were we the immature couple humming the theme from Jaws each time this happened? Guilty, but you know you would have done it too.  I found out I have a little Dr. Evil in me as all I wanted was for one to eat another fish, but they seemed content to swim laps instead, even with the theme music motivation.


3) Snorkeling was like becoming a cartoon character in Finding Nemo.  Whether it was climbing down the steps of your room and seeing different types of clown fish, lion fish or the occasional shark or going further out and seeing monster sting rays swim past. One day we did an excursion to another reef and on your right was layers of coral and fish and on your left was a massive drop off that turned into a blue abyss.  Off in the distance a school of manta rays swam by, much like a flock of geese.  We weren't quite quick enough to catch up to the turtle that was further ahead but the eels we did see were like ribbons cutting through the water. If there was ever a time to get scuba certified, this was probably it, but the silver medal for snorkeling was a worthy consolation prize.

Hopefully global warming turns out to be false and this incredible place doesn't disappear back under the ocean in our lifetime.  As 3rd anniversaries go it was perfect - maybe we can make a return trip for our 30th.